Meaning of demolish in English

demolish

verb [ T ]

/dɪˈmɒl.ɪʃ/ us

/dɪˈmɑː.lɪʃ/

demolish verb [T] (DESTROY)

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to completely destroy a building, especially in order to use the land for something else:

A number of houses were demolished so that the supermarket could be built.

to prove that an argument or theory is wrong:

He completely demolished all her arguments.

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The building had to be demolished because of subsidence.
One by one the old buildings in the city have been demolished and replaced with modern tower blocks.
The explosion virtually demolished several nearby houses.
You've demolished my lovely arrangement - now I'll have to do it all over again!
Our greenhouse was demolished in last night's storm.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Destroying and demolishing

annihilate
annihilation
apocalypse
bash through (something)
be sacrificed on the altar of something idiom
consume
costly
erosion
erosional
erosionally
erosive
extirpate
sabotage
saboteur
sack
sacking
sacrifice
scar
scarred
wipe

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Proving and disproving

demolish verb [T] (DEFEAT)

to easily defeat someone:

In a surprising win, the Jaguars demolished the Broncos 42-7.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Winning and defeating

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demolish verb [T] (EAT)

humorous

to quickly eat all the food you have been given:

Joe demolished an enormous plateful of chicken and fries.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Eating

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Related word

demolition

(Definition of demolish from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

demolish | American Dictionary

demolish

verb [ T ]

/dɪˈmɑl·ɪʃ/

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to completely destroy buildings or other structures:

Most of the town was demolished by the tornado.

They demolished the old school to build a new one.

(Definition of demolish from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of demolish

demolish

The monumental buildings were demolished and made room for luxurious high-rise apartment blocks.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Unfortunately, its summit building was almost totally demolished by later construction, but at least one interior wall stub with a curtain holder survives.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The city was demolished one neighbourhood at a time.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

One particular issue was the despondency apparent in residents living in the flats due to be demolished.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Theories are constantly being pummeled, reshaped, sometimes buttressed, more often completely demolished by data.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Press reports are replete with instances of courage and conviction of people who considered preservation of human feelings more important than demolishing religious institutions.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

According to the letter, they first finished constructing the new temple, installed the image, and then demolished the existing temple in the fort.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The approximate position of the staircase demolished in ancient times is indicated by the person at upper right.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The theories were demolished in some of the first visual experiments, where objects could be identified from only a short spark-illuminated presentation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If, after a certain time, a building has not acquired new uses, it will be demolished to leave only a trace of its former presence.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The 1949 excavation demonstrated the impossibility of such tunnelling - the altar lacked foundations and had to be demolished.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The government believed that most sanitary problems stemmed from the temporary hut barracks and wanted them demolished.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, each volume is also illustrated with a range of photographs including many early ones of buildings which have since been altered or demolished.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Inconvenient obstructions like the old gaol-house were demolished.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Long demolished, it was a memorial in brick, dynamic and sculptural; a memorial to the past, to death, and another kind of emptiness.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of demolish?

Translations of demolish

in Chinese (Traditional)

毀壞, （尤指為利用土地而）拆除，拆毀, 推翻（論點），顛覆（理論）…

Meaning of demolish in English

demolish verb [T] (DESTROY)

demolish verb [T] (DEFEAT)

demolish verb [T] (EAT)

Related word

demolish | American Dictionary

Examples of demolish

Translations of demolish

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